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Author: Subject: New kitchen worktop = cutting?
Moorron

posted on 29/6/06 at 10:32 AM Reply With Quote
New kitchen worktop = cutting?

ive been fitting my new kitchen this week and so far i have found it easy. i need to cut the worktops and was wondering if anyone here knows how 'easy' it is to do. i bought myself a router but i dont know where to get the cutting jig from so i was going to use the old worktops as the jig.

any tips?





Sorry about my spelling, im an engineer and only work in numbers.

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Confused but excited.

posted on 29/6/06 at 10:49 AM Reply With Quote
You can get the jigs from Screwfix.





Tell them about the bent treacle edges!

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David Jenkins

posted on 29/6/06 at 10:50 AM Reply With Quote
Talk nicely to your bank manager first...

(actually - not so bad as I thought - £50 'budget' or £90 'professional' grade)



[Edited on 29/6/06 by David Jenkins]






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ned

posted on 29/6/06 at 11:12 AM Reply With Quote
I couldn't bring myself to part with the money for the jig so measured it all out and did it by hand! jigsaw with the correct blade was ok but the blade flexed due to the depth of the worktop and gave an angled cut. A fine hand saw gave a good result but i think i tidied the top edge up with a sander anyway to get it all square - took a bit of fettling. I borrowed a router and bought the under worktop clamp things and just routed a double ended Y across the underside of the join and it did the job no probs.

Ned.





beware, I've got yellow skin

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spunky

posted on 29/6/06 at 11:33 AM Reply With Quote
With the cost of the worktops, I wasnt so brave. Just bought colour coded jointing strips, easy.





The reckless man may not live as long......
But the cautious man does not live at all.....

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nick205

posted on 29/6/06 at 11:56 AM Reply With Quote
I bought a router for the job and then baulked at the cost of the jigs.

But then I found my local Brandon tool hire sell an MDF router jig for £24. It works perfectly and the result is well worth the effort IMO.

As a word of warning, make sure your router and cutter are up to the job - realistically you need a 1/2" collet router and 1/2" cutter and router power should be 1800W+. Worktop is bastad tough stuff.

Finally, go slowly, measure and check everything very carefully and clamp everything down properly.

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David Jenkins

posted on 29/6/06 at 12:03 PM Reply With Quote
Forgot to mention - any decent tool-hire shop will rent you the necessary for a small-ish amount of money.






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ewanspence

posted on 29/6/06 at 12:09 PM Reply With Quote
make the jig yourself

I just made the jig. Measure the collar on your router, get a bit of old laminate flooring and route the main straight cut (to the width of your coller) using the sraight edge of the laminate as a guide, then measurt the 45deg end and clamp a bit wood as a guide and rout. This will then give you the perfect shape.

Test it on a spare end of wotktop for both the joints and try them together.

Simply screw the jig to the underside of the worktop (after measuring it 3 times) and away you go.

I then routed the T slots for the clamps by hand. Squirt some sealans into the joint and clamp it up.

When cutting out the hole for the belfast sink (has to be very neat edges as they are not covered by anything) I used a 40mm hole cutter for the corners and then a circular saw for the rough cut using a straight edge screwed to the back of the worktop that joints up the 4 corner holes. Then used the router to make the fairly good circular saw cuts even more perfect.

Looks damn good even if I do say so myself.

Our worktop took 8 weeks to arrive and was £300 in the 66% off MFI sale so if I cocked it up I had to wait another 8 weeks but pay 100% price!!!!! a bit worrying to say the least. Measured 4 or 5 times before each cut and remembering that everything is measured and cut from the back is a bit confusing for an old gitt like me.


good luck.

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DaveFJ

posted on 29/6/06 at 12:52 PM Reply With Quote
for the best results (if you need to join sections for corners etc) hire a biscuit cutter - looks professional when you have finished and quite easy to use

I used a circular saw to cut my worktops, word of warning.. make sure the blade is cutting in the right direction or you will chip the surface...





Dave

"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always

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andyps

posted on 29/6/06 at 01:05 PM Reply With Quote
Just did mine with solid birch, cut with a circular saw. Helped remove the need to get the joints right as the grain makes them obvious anyway. I just made sure the two bits are tight against each other and have a bit of silicone in between.

Still worried about cutting a £120 piece of wood which needed an accurate length and hole for sink in it though!!





Andy

An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less

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JoelP

posted on 29/6/06 at 06:52 PM Reply With Quote
my day job this, so excuse the boring long reply

As said, use a high power router and a good jig, check for nicks etc. Fresh bit in the router too. Make sure the router doesnt wobble as you cut, and that you press firmly at the last bit as it can leave the jig a little, which which then holds the tops apart.

Use a planer to make them match the walls, anything within 5mm is cool if you are tightening. More important is making sure the overhang at the front is even, so the doors look straight. Usually 30mm.

Use the bolts to hold it together, i can see the benefits of a biscuit joiner but its not needed IMHO. Silicone both sides completely, and wipe off excess in the direction of the grain (laid down by the router bit spinning).

We do the joining as a two man job, one tightening the bolts and the other adjusting the tops to be level. Once the silicone is dry you can remove the bolts if needed, for instance if you have a corner sink thats going through the cut.

To cut sinks and hobs, sit them on in the right place, masking tape round them, then cut round 10mm inside the tape. Make sure the jigsaw has a fresh blade, and a padded foot. The tape represents the 'cut this and you've f$%ked up' line, hence dont go closer than 5mm to it. More than 15mm away and the sink wont fit, which is just a damned annoying waste of time!

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